1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a feeder assembly for supplying electric power continuously to a sliding door of a vehicle and to the feeder assembly supporting pivotally a wiring harness.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of a conventional feeder assembly (page 4, FIGS. 1 and 2 in JP,2002-79892,A).
The feeder assembly 51 is disposed in a vehicle body 52 and supports a wiring harness 54 connecting a sliding door 53 and the vehicle body 52 pivotally responding to open and close operations of the sliding door 53. The feeder assembly 51 includes a base 55 fixed to a step or a vicinity of the step of the vehicle body 52, and a harness supporter 56 connected to the base 55 to swing horizontally.
The harness supporter 56 has claws 57 to support a corrugated tube surrounding the wiring harness 54. The corrugated tube is made of a synthetic resin and has parallel and alternating ridges and grooves in the circumferential direction. The corrugated tube receives the wiring harness 54 for protecting a plurality of electric cables and the claws 57 engage with the grooves 58a of the corrugated tube.
Another feeder assembly (not shown) is arranged in the sliding door 53 (for example, JP,2001-354085, pages 7 to 9, FIG. 4 and FIG. 7). The feeder assembly inside the sliding door includes a semicircle protector made of a synthetic resin which receives the bent wiring harness 54, and a metal leaf spring to urge the wiring harness upwardly in the protector.
The protector has an elongated opening at a bottom and the wiring harness 54 is led out from the lower opening to a vehicle body and fixed to the feeder assembly 51 of the vehicle body. When the sliding door 53 is closed (shown by a solid line in FIG. 9), the wiring harness 54 is led out from rearward of the protector, and when the sliding door 53 is opened (shown by a chained line in FIG. 9), the wiring harness 54 is led out from forward of the protector. The leaf spring in the protector absorbs a slack of the wiring harness 54 when the sliding door is closed and opened, especially opened half.
As an feeder assembly inside the sliding door, JP,2004-112984,A discloses that a wiring harness is bent in from U-shape to J-shape to absorb the slack of the wiring harness.
The feeder assembly (not shown) does not utilize a leaf spring but absorbs a slack of the wiring harness by moving a slider forwardly and rearwardly inside the protector. The slider is connected to a circular arc protector between the sliding door and the vehicle body. The feeder assembly includes the circular arc protector and a fan shape protector of the vehicle body. The circular arc protector moves rotatably in the fan shape protector to receive the movement of the sliding door in the width direction of the vehicle when the door is opened and closed.
However, when the feeder assembly (FIG. 9) is disposed in the vehicle body 52, the swingable harness supporter 56 may interfere with other parts and structures, and be stepped by passengers. When the sliding door 53 is opened and closed, one end 54a of the wiring harness 54 extending outwardly from the harness supporter 56 to the vehicle body 52 swings so that the end 54a may interfere with other parts and structures. The harness supporter 56 is fixed to the vehicle body 52 by bolts and the wiring harness 54 is fixed by the harness supporter 56 so that the assembly becomes difficult and needs more man-hour. The feeder assembly 51 made of a metal is easy to rust and does not have a good appearance.
JP,2001-354085,A discloses that the feeder assembly 51 is disposed in the vehicle body. Then, it is also possible to dispose the feeder assembly 51 in the sliding door.
The feeder assembly 51 can also be disposed in a back door, trunk or hood besides the sliding door 53.